But sir, can it be worst than now? UMNO and BN image is pretty much tainted by corruption and they never really do anything about it with too many case to be recall. Yes, our economy performing relatively well but if we break it down, most of the growth portion coming from goverment or goverment-related projects. Stocks market performing well or rather being defensive due to the ample support for goverment investment linked fund (GLIC)and no body can deny both fact sir, especially if you coming from investment industry. We might do better now but we can go even further if we stop all the unecessary wastage due to the corruption,leakage, nepotism, rent-seeking, and cronyism. Our natural resources is depleted, we losing so much of our forest and our other natural resources, and our yield return for every use of our natural resource is diminishing. Let me end by asking you one question, where are we heading to sir?

Malaysia is a racist, feudal and undemocratic country run by a UMNO led kleptocracy for the last 55 years in which all kinds of corruption and crimes have been commited. Lawlessness is endemic. Despite UMNO’s deep pockets and gerrymandering of parliamentary seats, in which some seats have only a few thousand voters and other seats have hundreds of thousands of voters, UMNO still lost it's two-thirds majority in 2008. Although the odds are against Anwar Ibrahim's PKR, the outcome of the next election is still unlikely to be any better for the UMNO led kleptocracy than in 2008. Given the state of affairs in Malaysia, it is unlikely that things will change for another 55 years. In the meantime the racism, lack of human rights, lawlessness and kleptocracy will go on.

1. That part of your story on 1 month's bonus for civil servants is inaccurate;it's actually 1.5 months

2. Comment on nazam12's comment regarding tax evasion- going after tax evaders is the right thing to do. As I read somewhere, a significant factor in Greece's economic collapse is that many high-income earners do not pay tax and in fact take it as a badge of honour not to pay tax. A country that does not collect taxes due to it will face economic collapse and social unrest as lower-income earners will resent being asked to bear with any austerity measures.

3.Comment on hbeJSr2bVJ's comments- utter rubbish fit only for brain-washing purposes. The states under non-Barisan National (Najib's party) administration have done well, certainly much better in terms of transparency and budget surpluses than under the previous administration using quantifiable metrics rather than unhelpful generalities like "sheer incompetency". No doubt that the Opposition is not perfect, but only a dreamer would expect perfection, for perhaps only God can be perfect all the time under all circumstances. As for Malaysia doing well in the world, no doubt Malaysia has done well against many nations but if you were to compare against countries which were on par or even behind Malaysia in terms of economic development forty years ago ( think South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore,etc), you will find that Malaysia has underperformed terribly. Why so? As for "peaceful nation", people have a general fear for their personal security to the extent that even premier shopping complexes' car parks are considered unsafe following a number of serious crimes.

Pakatan Rakyat are far from perfect, but they're also further from the rot of corruption that 55 years of power has plunged Najib's Barisan Nasional in. As for incompetency (sic), Penang's PR state government turned years of budget deficit (thanks to theft by BN kleptocrats) into a healthy surplus. If that's incompetence, BN must be off the chart.

@hbeJSr2bVJ: You must be a member of the Umno elite group or one of their cybertrooper. Your idiotic comment are like the manufactured and much hollow reports by the North Korea Propaganda. Can you give the world readers an honest answer to all the following cases that have created an uproar to the Malaysian public?
1. Najib's involvement in Scorpion Submarine Corruption scandal?
2. Najib's involvement in the bombing of a Mongolian girl with military-grade granade?
3. The tainted Election Commission that manufactures phantom voters to help BN wins the election?
4. The incapable Attorney General and the former police chief's involvement with the gangsters?
5. The crime rate figure that was altered to cast false impression of a safe society?
6. The corruption of majority of the BN ministers and Chief Ministers?
7. The Cowgate scandal where a minister squanders public fund for her own gain?
8. The Shrimp-gate scandal where your "Street-thug-like" Agricultural minister's involvement in the illegal land purchase?
9. The disappearance of Bruno Manser in the jungle of Sarawak who unfold the illegal logging by the chief minister?
10. The building of Lynas and pengerang toxic industry under the objection of local people?
11. The Malaysia Airline Scandal?
12. The "intended" sales of Malaysian railroad system under the objection of public?
13. The "accidental" death of Beng Hock?
14. The beating of the public by the police during peaceful demonstration?
15. The wealth of Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers who are under international investigation as possible result of money laundrying and massive corruption?
16. The illegals in the state of Sabah and Sarawak that are made citizen overnight with conditions to vote for BN?
17. The physical attacks by UMNO-sponsored street thugs against opposition leaders?
18. The immense wealth accumulation by a small number of super-rich politician - past and present? And the list goes on and on...

This once beautiful country has been repeatedly "raped" by the BN ruling government. The country has a few super-rich of the world class but the wealth is through massive corruption. It is hitting the debt ceiling of 55% and yet the government has never shown any efforts to reduce the debt. Look into the face of your children and dare you tell them that their future in this country is secured!

Malaysia's GDP growth is a lowly 5%-- NOT one of the highest in the world -- China's, Indonesia's, the Philippines' and many others are much higher at 7% or 8%.
Malaysia is not even a G-20 country. Indonesia is.
Malaysia doesn't even belong to any other economic superstar groupings either, like BRICS, the Economist's CIVETS, Goldman Sachs' NEXT 11 and MIST, Citigroup's 3-G, nor even PwC's Emerging 7. Indonesia and the Philippines do.
The KL Stock Exchange is one of the region's under-performers, and is widely criticized.
A recent ASEAN Business Outlook Survey showed that international businesspeople's trust and respect for Malaysia, its corruption and unproductive workers has plunged consistently the last several years. Just ask all the expats, multinational companies and Foreign Direct Investment fleeing Malaysia like the plague the last few years. They are all leaving for brighter markets in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and of course, Singapore.

Malaysia is just a wanna-be Singapore, and a failed state banana republic. It's the Kuwait of Southeast Asia, with a lot of oil and gas but no major accomplishments nor any important role in the international system. it has an openly racist, broken society with low political freedom. Nobody cares what Malaysia thinks, it has never been a regional leader. So a true reformer like Anwar Ibrahim is its only hope.

But under BN we are already RM500 Billion in debt and all that accumulated in the last 15 years since Anwar was sacked as Finance Minister. So since the time Anwar was sacked the BN govt has been unable to balance its books which does not sound like a ringing endorsement of its financial capabilities. And to put our debt into perspective lets remember that the Petronas Twin Towers cost only RM1 Billion per block back in late 90s so we have overspent the equivalent of 250 individual towers assuming RM2 Billion per tower now. So where has all the revenue from our resource rich country gone? On the other hand opposition held states have been improving their financial position since the time they took over in spite of being squeezed financially by the bn federal govt and there is no chaos in opposition held states as has been painted by BN. So why should we continue to vote BN?

Last night it was on TV that Malaysia will prosecute income tax evaders as criminals from next year.
They will be jailed. Is this another desperate measure to increase govn revenue? Will it succeed?

Those who pay income tax esp from the private sector are the goose that lay eggs. They will cease
to lay eggs if they are locked up. Worse, the business that they run may collapse, the employees
will be out of job. The govn hopes to collect golden eggs but may end up with no egg.

It is common wisdom that when rates are high, there will be those who want to evade. It is also on
msn that the govn tries to explain their handouts of RM500 and 250 will bring multiplier effects on the
economy. The same way reducing income tax rate will bring multiplier effects and more. The money
will be in the hands of the entrepreneurs instead of the govn. The former may use it to expand their
business, that they can keep their gains is an added incentive. The employees gain indirectly. The
govn will spend the money as we are seeing now, wastefully, not multiplying.

Many other nations have higher rates up to 35%, a few even 50%. The higher rates usually result
from high govn spendings, eg welfare state - high subsidy for many items, unemployment benefits,
to pay for wars. Subsidy is something to be avoided, encourage laziness, distort the economy.

Another development for us to be aware is that the last 2 weeks saw a v big drop in the price
of palm oil fresh fruit bunches(FFB) and rubber - getah pok(GP). FFB used to be in the range of RM550
per ton for most of the last 3 yrs, it peaked at RM700+. 3 weeks ago it was RM500, 2 weeks ago
400, yesterday 360. GP was in the range of RM 6 - 7 per kilo, peaked at 8+. 3 weeks ago saw a
drop to RM5, then 4. The prices affect many Malay small holders and Felda settlers - v big drop
in income. The RM 500 and 250 will be nothing as compared to this drop.

The drop is due to external factors, uncertainty in the Euro zone, in turn resulting in low exports
from China, India, other countries. Less income to them means they import less from us. But to
the people (voters) less money in their pockets result in resentment to the ruling party. NTR keeps
on postponing the election, the next few months will see worse turmoil. It is said that the break up
of the Euro zone is inevitable, indebted countries like Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy have no choice
but to devalue their currencies. They cannot expect further loans from the rich Euro zone nations.
To devalue they must leave the Euro. After devaluation their exports will be cheaper, tourists will
find these countries to be cheap holiday destinations.They may recover. But before the recovery the
world will see drastic drop in equity, commodity prices. In Malaysia it may not be worth the labour
cost to harvest the FFB or tap the rubber trees.

Mr Najib will have to hold the election in the next 6 months in this scenario.

Wow, you must be living on planet Mars with zero knowledge of planet Earth.

"Stone women to death" - Pas?
"Racist Chinese party" - The multi racial DAP or all Chinese MCA? UMNO anyone? MIC not racial at all?
"sheer incompetence ......4 states under under their rule..." BN controlled Government agencies give them the highest performance figures. Who are you to question BN controlled agencies giving them the highest performance? Perhaps "the" Taib in Sarawak is dong better? Certainly for himself.
" Barmy alternative budget" That takes the cake - compare that with the clear the pantry BN budget before the next election. Are BN so certain they are going to lose the election that they have to empty everything?
"Malaysia is ranked in the top ten..." Ha, Ha Ha,...... South Korea was poorer than Malaysia per capita as recently as 1981. It is now 31/2 times richer. Almost all other well performing Countries have done better. Do not even talk about Singapore.
"Malaysia is not a banana republic" What a statement with the Country approaching such a high debt level as to be near the edge.

You can continue to be a BN partisan but at least try and be factual. Otherwise you lose all credibility.

Najib maybe like Gordon Brown, but his opponent, Anwar Ibrahim is not David Cameron, but an incoherent and hyprocritical politician with morally tainted image. And Anwar is leading Pakatan Rakyat, a coalition of an extremist Islamic party that wants to stone muslim women to death for adultery, but letting her non Muslim partner free, and a racist chinese party, which is obsessed with chinese culture and chinese supremacy. Anwar's own party, PKR is mired with election frauds and bickerings.
One can only see the sheer incompetency of Pakatan Rakyat, by looking at the four states under their rule,the empty and unfulfilled promises they made in the last election, and the barmy alternative budget they produced last month.
It is true that Najib's party has many shortcomings. But under its rule, Malaysia is ranked in the top ten as the most peaceful country in the world, in the top 25, as the most competitive and in the top 20, of the biggest trading nations, despite its small size.
Unlike Gorden Brown, Najib is far from cornered. Malaysia's GDP growth is one of the highest in the world, unemployment one is of the lowest, and its share market is one of the best performed. Malaysia is not a banana republic, but it will be one, if Anwar takes over.

hbeJSr2bVJ,
Your English grammar is still truly horrible. And ou can't even defend your claims and assertions. Look above at your original thread again: The other
commenters and I debunked and tore apart every single one of your "statistics" and "rankings" within a few short minutes. The "Global Peace Index that you trumpet measures countries' propensity for weapons, arms trade, and warfare-- not internal peace, domestic security or stability.

International businesspeople and economists loathe Malaysia because of its lazy workers and unproductive companies. Neighboring governments in
the region whisper and laugh at Malaysia, because it is still an irrelevant geopolitical non-influence that has failed to develop any important role in the international system. Global investors avoid Malaysia because it has barely produced anything remotely innovative in the last 5 years, compared to Singapore and other Asian nations. Both Asian and Western countries loathe Malaysia's racist and hedonistic society that barely tolerates
criticism. Islamic countries and moderate Muslims around the globe condemn, not respect, Malaysia's religious extremism and interfaith warfare. Singapore cannot help but sneer in pity at Malaysia's lack of progress in all policy arenas.

Many Malaysians' biggest spikes in cognitive dissonance and loud, self-congratulatory rationalizations came when Lee Chong Wei failed to acquire Olympic gold for the second time (and in badminton, which is not even a real sport). Having put all of its sports eggs into one basket with no other athletic events to bet on, Malaysians were simultaneously depressed, furious and embarrassed at Lee when China won an unprecedented clean sweep of all 5 badminton titles at the London Olympics. In fact, Malaysia failed to out-perform fellow A.S.E.A.N. member countries Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, which also won 2 gold medals each. As Jason Mustian said during the London Olympics, "The only thing worse than trying to lose at badminton, is trying at badminton."

hbeJSr2bVJ's argument of "Why there are so many citizens from those countries working in Malaysia?" ranks with the most obnoxious arguments that have ever appeared on a distinguished magazine's website. There are thousands of Malaysians also working in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam as well. The more important question is: If Malaysia is so great, then why are so many Malaysians running to Singapore, Australia and the UK, crying and begging those countries' citizens for low-paid jobs to work under them?

Fact: Malaysia is still a Third-world country. Malaysia is the Kuwait of Southeast Asia. Malaysia is a wanna-be Singapore.

The 2 options are clear:
Option 1. If you want a continuation of Malaysia's weak economy compared to other Asian countries, more "Panem et Circensis" government handouts from Najib, more racist affirmative-action policies, more irrelevance and non-importance on the global stage, and still no major Malaysian achievements nor any real contributions to the rest of global civil society, then vote for the complacent old politicians at Barisan Nasional again.

Option 2. If you want a stronger economy, less racism, true economic and sociopolitical reform, and the long-awaited international respect for Malaysia that has always been out of reach, then vote for Pakatan Rakyat-- led by Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Abdul Hadi Awang.

excuse me, peaceful? have you seen the people getting robbed in broad daylight with their children in hand? one of the mistakes made is spending money unnecessarily on a new mall instead of working on tightening security in public. and the point of unemployment being the lowest; well, what's the point when Malaysia's average pay is below the average global salary scale? honestly the comments you made are pretty ignorant, which is highly understandable for people too oblivious to reality thanks to bias media. one too many times government scandals are given the pardon and swept under the rug, treating its citizens like pure idiots. it's time to change buddy.

I have never said that Malaysia is richer than South Korea or Singapore. But it is in the top ten of the most peaceful countries in the world. I agree that Malaysia could do better. However, it has done better than most countries in the region. It is not a banana republic. Its public debt, as percentage to GDP is lower than
UK's, Japan's and even Singspore's.

since TE's article is about Najib, it is more relevant to refer to current GDP's growth. Please refer to the economic and financial indicators given in this issue of TE. compare Malaysia's performance, with iSingspore's and South Korea's. Now, who is more factual?
Selangor is now being investigated by MACC for Talamgate. Which BN controlled agencies giving it the highest performance figures. performance in what?.

Since you commented on My English grammar, may I ask you whether a good English writer writes the way you did. For examples:
'Its corruption and unproductive workers has plunged consistently....'
'..failed state banana republic...'
And using cliches like 'fleeing Malaysia like the plague....'

Since this is not an English forum, I rather not dwell too much on them. Besides, writing and editing from an iPad are not easy.

It is amusing that you compared Malaysia with Indonesia, Vietnam and the Phillipines. I will not use statistics because you might not be able to understand them. Just look around you. Why there are so many citizens from those countries working in Malaysia?. In the case of Vietnam, please read the article, ' A tiger at Bay, the Economist, 15,Sep 2012'.

Malaysia is not the Kuwait of Southeast Asia. It will become a net oil importer in two or three years time.
Malaysia is an Islamic country and a respected member of IOC. For muslims, it is meaningful. As a trading nation, Malaysia has never aspired to be a regional leader, and does not care whether or not other countries listen to it, as long as they buy Malaysian products.
It is not clever to say that Anwar Ibrahim is a reformer. He was the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia for nearly ten years. Why didn't he reform Malaysia when he was holding the two important posts?. In fact, he almost brought Malaysia to its knees during the 1997 financial crisis.